A barrier trial win at Randwick has convinced Dibayani’s trainers he will appreciate clockwise racing in Sydney this autumn.
Formerly trained in Ireland and Hong Kong, Dibayani raced four times during the 2015 Melbourne spring carnival for trainers David Hayes and Tom Dabernig.
A three-time Group One placegetter in Hong Kong in 2014, Dibayani came from last to win his heat at Randwick on Friday in preparation for the Group Two Apollo Stakes (1400m) on February 13.
“I was glad to see him trial well. He’s a different horse on that leg,” Dabernig said.
“He just always struggled here with the Melbourne way of going. We thought with a bit of racing he’d work it out but he actually got worse as the preparation went on.
“The more you tried to make him do it, the more he resented it.
“We’ve been working him on his Sydney leg and on Friday I thought he trialled pretty well.”
Dabernig said if Dibayani recaptured his best form the Group One BMW (2400m) was a target.
“I think we’ll just take it one run at a time and try to get him back into form,” he said.
“He seems in great order. He’s lovely and sound and bright and well, and I thought his runs in Melbourne early in the spring were pretty good. They certainly showed that he was competitive.”
Dibayani was placed in both the P B Lawrence Stakes (1400m) and Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes (1600m) at Group Two level before finishing ninth in the Underwood Stakes.
In his final start of the spring Dibayani hung out for the majority of the race and ran wide on the home turn before eventually finishing 30 lengths from the winner.
